UPDATE: Escaped Inmate Captured

An escaped inmate is back behind bars, but officials say he didn't go into custody without a fight.

The NC Department of Public Safety says Donnie Travis was caught sometime between midnight and 1 a.m. Friday in Oxford in Granville County. That's about 110 miles away from where Travis escaped in Kinston.

Officials say a deputy spotted Travis in the red pickup truck he used to escape from his work assignment Thursday afternoon. The deputy tried to apprehend Travis at a service station in Oxford, and officials say Travis actually rammed the truck into the deputy's cruiser. In his rush to get away, Travis wrecked the truck on the property of the service station and fled on foot. A two-hour search of the woods ended with the apprehension of Travis near Interstate 85.

The NC Department of Public Safety says Travis will face several additional charges for his escape. He was supposed to be released from the Duplin Correctional Center in Kenansville next March 2013. He was in prison for larceny and communicating threats.

Previous StoryThe NC Department of Public Safety says an inmate escaped Thursday afternoon from his work assignment in Kinston.

Officials say 38-year-old Donnie Travis escaped this afternoon from the Cunningham Research Station, a state research farm in Kinston.

Travis was last seen at about 4 p.m. and is believed to have stolen a red pickup truck from the farm with yellow state government license tags. The truck is a red 2005 Dodge Ram pickup with license tag number PK-1904.

Travis was serving a maximum sentence of one year and ten months for larceny from a person, misdemeanor larceny and communicating threats.

He is a minimum-custody inmate assigned to Duplin Correctional Center in Kenansville. He was scheduled for release in March 2013.

According to the NC Department of Correction website, Travis has been in and out of prison since 1992. His rap sheet is ten pages long and includes numerous larceny offenses, drug charges and violating a protective order.

Anyone who has seen inmate Donnie Travis or the red pickup, or has information on his whereabouts is asked to call local law enforcement or Duplin Correctional Center at 910-296-0315.

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